Rob Ferrell

Rob FerrellRob Ferrell has been playing drums for as long as he can remember, and his awards, accolades and experience have helped him become an in-demand player and teacher in and out of Orange County, California.

Prior to becoming a professional drummer, Rob attended Long Beach State University with a Bachelor’s degree (graduating with honors), and spent eight years as a deputy with the Orange County Probation Department working with troubled teens. This experience helped him understand how best to communicate with parents and a younger generation.

However, Rob’s true passion was drumming, and to achieve this goal Rob studied with three prominent figures in the drumming world: Roy Burns (famed clinician and drummer for Woody Herman, Benny Goodman and Lionel Hampton), Tony Pia (drummer for Maynard Ferguson, Edgar Winter, Larry Carlton, Bobby Caldwell, Englebert Humperdink, Brian Setzer and the Doobie Brothers) and Chuck Silverman (famed drum educator and master of Afro-Caribbean styles). These three instructors impacted not only Rob’s drumming style, but also his approach to being a professional musician and how to navigate the ins and outs of the music business.

Since becoming a professional drummer, Rob’s hard work has led to many of his dreams coming true. He has performed in music videos for a Warner Brothers country artist as well as an Interpol Records pop rock band. In addition, Rob has performed with bands that have opened for headlining acts such as Berlin, Lenny Kravitz, Missing Persons, Dave Wakeling, Martha Davis, Dishwalla, LA Guns, and Gene Loves Jezebel.

Others have taken note of Rob’s skill behind the drum kit. In 1995 he won the California Country Music Association’s “Drummer of the Year” award, and in May 2000 he was profiled in Modern Drummer magazine. In the November 2015 issue of Modern Drummer, he was honored with a spot on Dom Famularo’s Teachers List.

Rob began teaching privately many years ago at the prodding of one of his teachers, and these days nothing is more important and rewarding to Rob – besides his family – than to be a quality drum instructor. To that end, he co-founded the Professional Drum Teachers Guild with the goal of helping future educators become the best drum teachers they can be as, while educating students and parents on what qualities to look for in a good drum teacher.

Finally, in addition to his teaching duties, Rob performs in various corporate/casual bands that perform across California and beyond.

“A recording engineer friend of mine introduced me to the DrumDial many years ago. He was using it to tune the drums I was tracking on. I asked him about it and he told me it was an indispensable tool in his studio. He told me he had written down all the settings for different head configurations and sounds and could recreate them very quickly. At the time I was doing some regional touring with a band and was plagued with a repeating scenario where we would arrive at the venue late with the opening bands already performing. It was too loud to tap tune backstage so I would have to wander around trying to find a secluded spot to tune my drums! Once I purchased my first DrumDial (which I still own to this day), I never had that problem again! Much like my engineer friend, I recorded all the settings I used with the different head configurations on my different sets and could get the perfect, consistent sound I wanted every time very quickly. Not only do I use the DrumDial for my own performance needs, I use it on a daily basis with my students to help teach their ears how to tap tune as well as quickly tune any problem drums they bring into lessons without taking up too much valuable lesson time. The support at DrumDial is unparalleled as is the build and quality of the device. I simply can’t imagine life without it!”